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Perspective and commentary by Marshall Breeding

Perceptions 2013: An International Survey of Library Automation

I have posted the results the seventh annual survey of data collected on how libraries rate their current integrated library system, the company involved, and the quality of customer support. The survey also aims to gather data regarding attitudes regarding interest levels in open source ILS products.
Perceptions 2013: an international survey of library automation gives the general conclusions and presents all the statistical results derived from the survey. As usual, some of the most interesting and valuable information lies in the comments offered by responders.

Selected Survey Findings: Top Performers

Polaris continues to receive top ratings in all categories from large and medium-sized public libraries.

Apollo from Biblionix received top ratings in all categories from small and very small public libraries.

Alma from Ex Libris received top ratings from large academic libraries in the category of general product satisfaction, management of electronic resources, customer support, and customer loyalty.

Sierra from Innovative interfaces received top ratings from large academic libraries for overall product functionality and effectiveness for managing print resources.

OCLC WorldShare Management Services received top ratings from small academic libraries in the management of electronic resources.

Small academic libraries rated Koha (managed independent of a support firm) highest in the management of print materials.

School libraries rated OPALS most positively in response to all survey questions.

Just as I did for the previous editions survey, I created an interactive tool for viewing the statistical summaries and comments. The main tables in the article show statistics only for those products that had more than 15 survey responses. You can use the ILS Product Report to view the statistics on any of the products mentioned in the survey and to read the comments about that system, even if the number of responses did not meet the threshold. The comments that display have been edited to remove any text that identifies the individual or institution, preserving the anonymity of the responders. The narrative data in the comments largely corroborate the statistical responses and makes for interesting reading.